Jack Parkman

I have no problem with saying that GMs or coaches that have success in multiple stops are good. You can't be a great coach without great players, and you can't be a great GM without some luck in player evaluation along the way. Drafting Duncan Keith or Nikita Kucherov in the 2nd round is lucky, no matter how you slice it. There's no way in hell the scouts thought either player would be as good as they became. Having the Astros pass on Kris Bryant is lucky. Drew Bledsoe getting hurt and getting the best QB of all time in the 6th round is lucky. Let's agree to disagree and call it that.

delete, forget it.

I thought it was an accepted fact about the level of variance in baseball and hockey. Do you believe in data science at all? Anyway, this point of view has nothing to do with me. I live in an alien world not built for people like me. I'm one of those outliers. The reason I don't believe in merit has more to do with what I see in mainstream society than anything in my personal life. It does explain a lot though. There's a lot more research and data behind my views on merit.

The Braves just won 88 games, the fewest of any NL playoff team, and are missing a top 5 player in the game. They're representing the NL in the WS. Nobody had the Braves coming out of the NL. They're another proof of variance.

Playoffs are a crapshoot though. Does Theo get any credit if his teams never won anything? He only gets credit because his teams won the variance lottery. Think of all of the weird shit that had to happen for the Sox to win the WS in 05.

I don't disagree.

Theo is exceptional as a scout but average as a GM. His issues popped up in both Boston and Chicago. He's great at building a team that has a window to win but he's terrible at maximizing said window. Theo is the turnaround king. Steve Yzerman is on a similar path with the Lightning/Wings. It would be more believable that someone is actually good at their job as a sports GM rather than getting lucky if there was any consistency behind moves over a long period of time. Theo and Yzerman have proven over a long period of consistency that they can scout talent in their respective sports. They have not proven that they can maximize windows. Sports are random, especially hockey and baseball. The fact that the playoffs are such a crapshoot in both sports should be enough to prove randomness. At the end of the day, all three of Bowman, Tallon and Smith contributed to the Hawks winning 3 cups. Both Bowman and Tallon are responsible for their downfall. How much credit/blame one gives to those responsible is completely subjective. It's an interesting debate. In terms of Rocky as an owner, it's easy to be an owner in a hard capped league when you inherit the team with a championship level core in place. Right now is when we, as a fanbase, learn what kind of owner he really is. It's not looking good.

Not really. People can control the process, but not the results. One person could do everything right but get shitty results, and another can half-ass the process and get great results. Generally, people do a good job with the process and get average results. There are outliers, but those are the exceptions and not the rule. The fact that not everyone can be a professional athlete no matter how much effort they put into it should be a daily reminder of the randomness of personal success and failure. How come it's conventional wisdom with professional athletes but it doesn't apply to other aspects of life?

You believe in merit. I don't Ring a bell? I think of running a sports team like being a professional gambler. Eventually the good luck runs out for anyone. This is a sport in which Peter Chiarelli has his name on the Stanley Cup as a GM. Tells you all you need to know.

We've already had this discussion and have agreed to disagree. I don't wish to re-hash it.

That they lucked their way into 3 cups. You don't nail as many key contributors as they did late in the draft and trading shit players without some luck. I don't care how good your scouts are, that shit isn't normal. You don't win 3 cups in 6 years because you're good. You do it because you're running an insane hot streak of players turning into gold. When that ended, so did the run.

^^^^

It's painfully obvious at this point that the org just had an insanely lucky string of player transactions but has otherwise been the same shitty organization that they've always been. Hell of a sales job by McCub to convice Chicago otherwise.

This is totally going to backfire when they get stuck with Kimbrel. Just cut your losses and move on.

It's been a long time since I've been excited about the Bulls.

First rule of being a White Sox fan: Murphy was an optimist.

Did they not have an EOS presser? If not, what are they hiding from?

I did pretty well here. Especially about Keuchel and Rodon

Personally I think a cap and floor model would actually be beneficial to the players because it would stop the small market teams from going super cheap on their payrolls. That keeps player salaries down more than anything else. The stars will get less but the mid-tier players will get more.

I didn't quit HF. I was thinking about it but decided not to.

We all just have to accept that Tony will be here until he either blows a lot of the window or doesn't want to be anymore. Jerry gonna do whatever he wants, it's his toy. No use getting upset about it, just hope they can overcome Tony's buffoonery.

hahahaha

I'll agree to the ban if you guys let me back on OD 2022 if I ask to be reinstated. I'd be glad to be banned. I spend way too much time on this board. I PMed the Mods asking to be banned months ago, nobody answered so now I have to be an asshole in order to get it done.

Garcia/Goodwin/Hamilton/Engel

Engel, Goodwin, Hamilton, Garcia, etc.